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[RebornSerenity]

The autumn leaves danced around her as they floated down from their perch in the trees. The branches growing barren, as much as her source of food. She was careful to step over the leaves with utmost speed, agility, and attentiveness. Watching as each of the auburn pigmented leaves were crushed under her tiny paws. She was smaller than most of her breed, no bigger than a large dog, but that was considered small. Her coat was solid back, with no pigmentation changes throughout her thick, warm coat. Her tail flowed evenly to the tip, slightly curled up at the end pointing towards the sky that she would normally howl at. With her ears set loosely on her head, occasionally tipping from side to side and rotating to pick up other sounds, she quietly walked through the forest. It wasn't until she heard a gunshot that her fur raised on end and she took off. The sound startled her enough to cause her to stop watching where she was running. A fatal mistake. Soon jaws from below came up and slammed across her bone, ripping into flesh and tendon as it crunched around her thigh. She yelped loudly and tried to pull her leg free, but to no avail, it was stuck fast. She attempted to shift, but given her leg was stuck, it kept her from focusing, the pain radiating up her back into her hip. The pain of her pulling and biting at her leg eventually started to take it's toll on her body as she lay down with her leg outstretched, pulling on every nerve in her body. She started to howl softly, hoping her pack would hear her, but she was too far out. She had broken their rules yet again, never following their codes. This time might be her last mistake.

Her breathing was labored, further proven by her rapid jerks in her chest, and her muzzle agape attempting to calm herself down so she could think. She lifted her head attempting one more go at pulling the contraption off of her, only succeeding in doing further damage as it clung on tightly. It's massive, sharp teeth gripping her and never letting go. Blood soaked the ground under her as she lay against the leaves. Her vision started to dull as she lost a lot of blood from the wound. It was becoming difficult for her to think, let alone stay awake but she knew she had to. The last attempt had moved the metal monster upwards more on her leg, ripping her leg up even higher as it bit into her hip bone causing a pain to shoot up her back as it clamped down tightly on the nerve that controlled her motor functions. She panted and her eyes watered, her front paws clawing heavily into the soil as she dug until hitting the moistened ground. Her eyes started to drift closed, and her tail stopped tapping as the world around her started to darken. She couldn't tell if it was from the blood loss, or nightfall. The only thing that reawakened her senses and keen sense of smell was that of a crunch of leaves and sticks, seemingly under the boot of a human. She could hear it's heartbeat, and smell it's scent. It wasn't too close yet, so she couldn't discern it's gender.

Her lips slowly parted to reveal her white fangs that were ready to rip flesh if need be. The figure started to come more into view, she quickly recognized the crossbow handing from the figures hip, instantly assuring her that this was a hunter and he had come to kill her. She opened her maw to snarl but she had lost too much blood to lift her head, completely at his mercy. She wished her healing powers would kick in so she could run, but the foreign body that was latched so tightly to her kept those powers from functioning correctly. All she could do is lay in her crimson pool and await her fate as the figure loomed closer, closing in on her as she realized now it was a male. Her heartbeat raced as she anticipated the figure finishing her off. She couldn't help but flash back to her family, knowing that with her gone they would mourn her loss and she would never return back to those mountains she had learned to call home.

 

[GrinningGentleman]

RE: Me and Grinning - Werewolves aren't all the same

"Of course we won't pay you for the elimination of the Vampires.. This wasn’t a contract.. You -decided- to help that family out. That was your choice..” Avalen thought to himself, making a grimace of displeasure, as he slowly walked through the fallen leaves. His focus was elsewhere, however, gently cleaning the primitive, two barreled shotgun in his hands.
”’Noo, you can keep whatever you can find on the Vampire’s person, but you’ll get nothing more...’ What am I? A common thief? A scoundrel? A bloody.. Fortune hunter?” He complained, now silently murmuring his disconcern, rather than thinking it. His hands got more frantic with the gun, as her cocked it, to clean the inside of the handle, eyeing it up and down with frustration in his eyes.
”By right, I should’ve taken every last of their pennies.. Silver bullets ain’t cheap.. And it’s not like your guarantied to hit, or anything… One of the filthy things almost bloody bit me, and what is the thanks? A cold, cheap, nothi…” His complaints were cut off, by the loud explosion inside the gun, unleashing bullets into the ground, not far from his foot. He gasped in surprise, as he took a step back, pinching his eyes shut. He instantly calmed himself down, realizing he’d just wasted two valuable slugs of silver bullets, -and- lost a foot in the process. His breathing calmed down, as he gazed back down at the gun, shaking his head at himself. He obviously never cleaned his gun, while it was loaded, but this time, his economical crisis, and frustrations, had got him careless. At least, he was some distance away from any known Werewolf, or Vampire territories, so he didnt expect any danger from that. And, usually, most Werewolf ran off at the sound of gunfire. But when he heard a desperate howl, not so long away, his eyes instantly shot in that direction. His hands began reloading the shotgun, as his feet carried him towards the origin of the howl.

He knew exactly what that howl meant. It was a call for help. A howl he’d heard many times before, which usually meant more Wolves would be coming down on him. Pulling up his mask, he hid the lower part of his face, keeping his identity hidden. It was common advice among Hunters, to do this. This way, the beast they hunted wouldn’t know of their identity, should they escape, and wouldn’t be able to seek them down in their human form. Of course, Avalen couldn’t be sure, this was actually a Werewolf. However, another good advice would be, that you could never be too sure.

As Avalen slowly walked into vision of the Wolf, he kept his intimidating gun pointed towards the wounded creature. The Wolf was just slightly larger than a large dog, which could both be a small Werewolf, and a big normal Wolf. But gazing into the creature’s eyes, he was fairly certain it was a Werewolf. He trusted his gut, as usual. Either way, he saw no reason not to put it out of it’s misery. He aimed the weapon more precisely, as chaos arose in his head. This didn’t quite feel right. This -wasn’t- right. The creature was in pain, and might as well be begging for death. Avalen groaned slightly, and against his better judgement, he spoke.
”Give me.. A reason.. Please. Give me a reason to shoot you.. To finish you off. Or give me.. Some sign, that you want to live, and might actually survive that wound, on your own..” He demanded. There was no way, that he was going to actually bandage the wound..

 

[RebornSerenity]

RE: Me and Grinning - Werewolves aren't all the same

She could tell by the boots what the man was as he moved towards her, she locked eyes with him by looking up. Half of his face was covered, stopping her from seeing his face. She lifted her paw and put it on his boot and whined, attempting to pull her bloody foot from the contraption. It only caused her pain to try this and she gave up, looking up at him. She hoped he would see that she wanted to live, she was hoping he would see the pleading in her eyes. She tapped her tail frustrated against the floor of the forest, her eyes pleading to him to help. She knew he was a hunter and was afraid of what he was thinking, hopefully he thought she was some... wolf, and nothing more. It shocked her that the man seemed to question his actions already, asking her even to show him a reason he should let her live, or a reason to finish her. She figured a paw on his foot signaling her thanking him for the help, would be enough to get her free without too much scuffle.

(will continue but don't have a lot more to post, post if you want. it's short, but don't have a lot to do currently

was short on time and distracted)

 

[GrinningGentleman]

RE: Me and Grinning - Werewolves aren't all the same

Avalen looked down that the wounded beast, with his eyes slightly narrowed, as it placed a paw on his boot. He sneered silently, as he lowered his gun a bit, seeing no potential threat from the wolf. He shook his head a few times, now knowing it was too sentient to be a simple Wolf. This was a Werewolf, begging for it's life. He remained there for a moment, very clearly contemplating things. He shouldn't even be considering this. This, was a monster. Neither an animal, or a human, in distress. He'd already killed several of it's kind, and done so without blinking, or remorse. All of those kills, had been hard fought victories. This time, it would be so easy. It's heart was right there, easy to aim at. He wouldn't even have to waist anymore than one slug of silver bullets.
However, a side of him, knew that he couldn't do that. Monster, or not, it didn't deserve that.

"Ergh.. I don't know -why- I am doing this, but you better be grateful... If any of the other Hunters of the lodge finds out about this, my career is over!"

Avalen complained, as he walked to the other side of the Wolf, crouching down at a small distance, looking down at the creature.

"And keep your jaws, pointed in the other direction... I have no intentions of getting my throat ripped out, once I release this lock, and I won't be having my gun handy.."

He warned the Wolf, waiting a moment, to make sure it would continue facing away from him. He was taught to be cautious around Werewolves, and never to underestimate their savagery.
When he was sure it wouldn't turn it's face towards him, he took a step closer, looking down at the trap. The wound had gotten disgustingly bad, causing him to make a small grimace of remorse. He couldn't even imagine the pain she must have been feeling, as he shook his head a single time.

"I bet.. This is going to hurt. Remember I'm helping you, though.. So don't go getting angry.. There is no painless way for me to do this.."

He warned again, looking towards the Wolf's head, before returning his eyes to the trap. Putting down the gun, he reached a hand to the locking mechanism. Unlocking it, it was now possible to pull the claws apart, with a little bit of force. This, was the part that would hurt. Avalen took a light breath, his spiky ears twitching a bit, as he grabbed at both of the traps claws, bracing himself. Counting down from five in his mind, he started pulling the claws apart, unlatching the metal claws from her flesh and bone, until the trap gave a small click, letting him know it was completely off. The second it gave that sound, he pushed himself backwards a bit, grabbing for his gun as he crawled a few steps away, pointing the weapon back at the Wolf. It was clear, that he didn't trust the creature, what so ever.

 

[RebornSerenity]

RE: Me and Grinning - Werewolves aren't all the same

She noticed his look and knew what it meant. She had shown too much of her intellect to the man and he figured out her secret. He even mentioned it saying if the other hunters knew his career was over. She whined softly as he crouched beside her. She understood everything he was saying and looked away as he asked her to. She grinned softly at the mention of him lowering his guard, highly uncharacteristic of a hunter, perhaps this one had a heart instead of being a stone cold careless fuck. She panted softly as his hand took hold of the trap. She couldn't help but yelp out loud as the trap started to rip from her leg with a crunch. She lifted her head and looked towards his hands and then let her head fall again, her paw pressing against his boot, preparing to bolt as soon as she was able to. Her body shook from the agony and she bit down on her own teeth and growled as her tail thrashed. She resisted attacking him, knowing he was helping her and finally 'click' the trap sprang open. She pounced back away from him and lowered her head, ticking her ears, her back leg held up as she stood on the other three. Her tail swished slightly from side to side and she barked at him softly before limping off a little ways away. It didn't take long during her limp for her leg to heal and she was able to heal it up enough to stand on all fours. She looked at him, nodded, and took off into the woods. She hoped they didn't meet again, but she wasn't that lucky.

 

[GrinningGentleman]

RE: Me and Grinning - Werewolves aren't all the same

Her angered complaints, as he worked on the trap, made Avalen close his eyes in fear, expecting her to go against his order and lash out at him. He knew, that if she did so at this point, the trap would lash back on to her, and she would stay trapped here. These where famous hunting grounds for Hunters, so he didn't expect it'd be stupid enough to do it, but he still didn't trust it. He kept himself prepared, ready to leap back, grab the gun, and shoot the Wolf before it got at his flesh. However, the Wolf remained where it was, only looking up a bit, as the trap was loosening. And once the trap was release, they seemed to both jump away from each other, creating a short distance. Avalen placed his hand on his gun, as the Wolf stared back at him, slowly picking it up.

"Don't.."

He said, shortly, as his finger got comfortable on the trigger, still without pointing it at the Wolf. He had no interest in threatening it now. He'd already helped it out, now it was it's time to chose.. Bloodshed, or parting ways. And after a few moments, the Wolf could already stand on four legs again, and his eyes narrowed. Now would be it's chance. However, the creature just gave him a nod, before running off. Doing so, sent a bolt of surprise through him, as he rested the gun back on the ground. Raising one brow, and an ear, he tilted his head a bit. This went against everything he'd been taught. In a way, it was a pleasant surprise. Avalen chuckled a single time, before dropping down on the ground with a sigh. This felt just as good, as helping a human, Elf or a Dwarf. Helping a person. His reputation, however, would be ruined, if anyone found out.. he closed his eyes, and buried the experience as a one time memory, never to be thought of again.


That night, Avalen camped in the woods, setting up a small fire to stay warm, and cook. Resting by the fire, his fingers elegantly tended to his weapons and gadgets, keeping everything in pristine order, and making sure it all worked as it should. This was his reputation. He crafted weapons and gadgets, like no other Hunter. Avalen had many skills, but the ones he was most proud of, was his ingenuity, and creativity, when it came to alchemy and craftsmanship. This was also how he earned most of his keep. He crafted weapons and gear for other hunters. He brewed dead-mans-poison, Wolfsbane and painkillers, for the Hunters. He did so much for them, and was respected for such, but was also heavily under paid. He was invaluable asset to the Hunter's Lodge, which would always grant him assistance when he needed it. A valuable feat.

After he'd had a fine dinner of Horse meat, and grilled vegetables and cleaning his weapons, he laid back, reading a book of Alchemy. He always tried to keep up, on current advances in alchemical brewing and steam powered technologies. But after half an hour of reading, he closed his eyes, and let rest fall over him.
Of course, he wasn't completely unprotected. The surrounding area was set up with varies traps and chimes, to warn him of closing danger. Avalen, was a light sleeper, and always had one eye open.

 

[RebornSerenity]

RE: Me and Grinning - Werewolves aren't all the same

Sarence made her way back to her pack, her father belittling her for smelling like a human. She explained and he scoffed at her. How dare she expect help from a meager human. Through the next few months, everything seemed to be quiet, peaceful, and laid back. She hunted with the pack, caught food with them and even bathed with them in the spring next to their campsite. She rarely left her wolf form as the human form was deemed "Necessity only" Unlike their brethren who lived off the flesh of mortals, her pack lived off animals, and even leaves/tree bark. They sharpened their teeth on the bones of their fallen prey and likewise honed their skills against them. Sarence was growing larger than she used to be, the first time she met that man. She half wished that day had never happened until today. A shrill howl curled the fur on the back of Sarence's neck. She cast her eyes to the horizon and narrowed them, giving a howl back and listening to the response. There was none. The howl had been from one of their own and Sarence had no choice but to lead a hunt to find her pack member. She quickly made her way towards the noises, it took them at least 2 hours to scale the huge mountain that they used for the pack, going down to the lowest elevation. The temperature had dropped about 20 degrees going up the mountain, naturally colder the higher one climbed. They finally came to the point where the noise had originally taken place and just over the tree tops smoke could be seen rising from the foliage. Her eyes widened as she narrowed her vision and found out why. The village was on fire - and part of her pack was ripped to shreds on the ground. She looked around and found a large dire wolf stalking through the village. Dire wolves were different from her kind, able to transform but refusing to, able to speak but refusing to, able to understand human language, but again refusing to. They were as feral as sentient beings can be. It didn't take long for her to realize that they were not alone here, beneath the wreck age humans were dying - being burned alive, among them was a highly familiar scent. The scent however wasn't burning, or dying, it had to be fighting.

(My idea, and one that works well, is have him fight one of the Dires and chase it off into the woods where he gets knocked down by the creature, just before it tears out his throat Sarence will come to his aid - putting in play the other ideas I have :3 feel free to take it a different direction though if you don't like that idea )

 

[GrinningGentleman]

RE: Me and Grinning - Werewolves aren't all the same

"Avalen.. Get that last Dire down.."

Suggested a tall, gruffy old man, as he pulled another filled bucket of water from the well, looking towards the young Hunter. Avalen nodded, pulling another silver arrow from the corpse of another Dire Wolf. Hunters didn't actually know, that Dire Wolves weren't like other Werewolves. They just knew they where huge, and a lot more aggressive. Avalen was already panting, having had quite a fight, taking down. Upon his face, he wore a filtration mask, making sure his lunges stayed clear of smoke. Removing the mask, he shouted for the old man, throwing the mask, pointing at a few of the houses.

"Get those people out of the houses.. I'll continue to clean out the last Dires with Haulong."

He shouted at the older man, as he placed the arrow on his crossbow, running towards the edge of the village. He pulled his cloth mask in front of his lips, to keep most of the smoke out. He panted as he reloaded his shotgun, looking around for more Werewolves, hearing Haulong shouting, not far away. Avalen changed direction immediately, heading towards the sound. He managed to get over a hill, just in time to watch a Dire Wolf leap at Haulong, who only barely managed to get out of the way. Avalen thought quickly, picking his hand crossbow up with his left hand, firing a half blind arrow, only barely cutting the Wolf's hide. The Dire roared at him, looking in his direction, before setting off towards the woods.

"Get that fucker, Avalen! I'll be fine!"

Haulong shouted, laying on the ground. No words had been necessary, however, as Avalen was already on his way. Avalen had been on the tracks of these Dire Wolves for a week. He had been too slow, and the lodge too stubborn to listen to his warnings, and now the village paid the price. He had tried to explain, that the Dire Wolves where more than capable of attacking the village. It was rather unheard of, that Werewolves did such a thing, so his warnings had been ignored. Now the village was a blaze, and it's inhabitants had all but been completely massacred. This, was the kind of hate that drove Avalen forward. He had already taken down three Dire Wolves, which was somewhat unheard of, by just one Hunter. A mixture of adrenaline, and a newly created silver slug, filled with poison, Avalen had done it. His hatred was boiling deep, empowering his pace, as he ran through the forest. He jumped, ducked and dodged past branches, fallen trees and hanging vines, as if the Devil himself where chasing him. He was not letting down. Every last one of the Dire Wolves, had to die, for what they had done.

After a long chase, Avalen slowed down, crouching down to a halt, to check the snow bellow him. He was wearing a much thicker coat, than he had last time, which was all wearing him down. So when his mind realized, that he'd been lead into a trap, it was already too late. The Dire Wolf jumped at him from a tree, forcing him to dodge out of the way. The Wolf still hit him, but his specially crafted, thick fur coat, stopped the claws from getting at his flesh. Landing on the ground, he quickly turned around with a groan, firing a slug towards the aggressor, who had already jumped to a different place, easily dodging the bullets. Avalen worked to get on his feet, firing another bullet at the Wolf, who jumped from side to side, dodging most of the spread, only taking a few bullets to one arm. The Wolf had wanted to jump at Avalen with it's fangs, but the hit of the bullets caused it to change altitude in the air, instead tumbling against the Hunter, who fell to the ground.

Avalen had knocked his head against a hard root bellow the snow, causing his vision to become blurry. Having dropped his gun, and his hand crossbow, he quickly reached into his belt, pulling out a short, mechanical stick. With a hand motion, a popping sound of steam, caused the stick to shoot open, turning into a slightly longer stick, with blades at each end. he was just in time, as the Dire Wolf jumped at him once again, and he only just managed to hold up the Wolf's claws, with his staff. Pushing up, he made sure the Wolf couldn't reach him with it's jaws, as it aggressively attempted to bite down at his face. This wouldn't last, and he was out of options. He had no more gadgets. His firearms weren't in range. But still, fear didn't fall over Avalen. He had grown so angry, that he didn't care. He was ready, to let it happen.

 

[RebornSerenity]

RE: Me and Grinning - Werewolves aren't all the same

It didn't take her long to realize that something was happening as the smell came to her nose. She heard gunshots and a fight happening deep into the woods. Betraying her instincts she broke off from the pack and made her way towards wherever the noise was. Just as she came up she noticed two things, a Dire wolf, one that wasn't of her pack and didn't keep to their laws, and the second thing she noticed was what it was standing on. The man below him for some reason reminded her of something, that day in the woods... She looked at him for only a moment before slamming her body weight into the creature, sending her and the huge wolf barreling off to the side. The wolf was stunned for only a moment before turning it's anger on Sarence. He lunged at her and grabbed her neck in it's jaws. Two times her size, she couldn't push him off and yelped loudly as the fangs pushed into her throat. The wolf thrashed it's head ripping her neck open in only a couple of seconds, before letting her go and picking her up by the waist and slashing into her belly and chest, Faster than any human would be able to react, faster than even she was able to react. The dire wolf picked her up and threw her across the path into a large tree where her body slammed against the trunk and she slid to the bottom of it. Just before the Dire was able to attack her more, something brought him down and he was sent tumbling to the ground as his life left his eyes. Sarence panted and attempted to heal the wounds but because they were made by a Dire and Dire wounds didn't heal on their own. Sarence was having trouble breathing from the attack, forcing her breathing to even out despite the pain. blood dripped from her mouth and she had her eyes on the man. It didn't take long for the wolves to track down where they were. If they found her near him they would capture him to kill him themselves for touching their pack sister.